by Dan Mitchell | Nov 12, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
During his first term, Donald Trump did not do a good job on government spending. Instead of draining the swamp, he expanded it. The most damning evidence is that he increased domestic spending at a faster rate than Barack Obama. And that’s not even...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 11, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Bureaucracy
Much to my surprise, the United States is going to have a second Trump presidency. To assess what that means, especially considering his mixed performance during his first four years, I’m going to write a series of columns about the potential policy...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 8, 2024 | Blogs, Monetary Policy
Why did Donald Trump win on Tuesday? There are lots of theories, but I think this chart played a big role. It shows how the Federal Reserve dramatically expanded its balance sheet in 2020 and 2021. In other words, the Fed created a bunch of new money....
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 28, 2024 | Blogs, Trade
Why has the United States imposed a trade embargo against Cuba for many decades? The answer is that both Republican and Democratic politicians have understood that trade restrictions will hurt the Cuban economy. Whether a Cuban blockade makes sense...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 8, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
If you want to understand Washington’s fiscal profligacy, this chart based on OMB data shows what has happened to the federal budget over the past 15 years. There are two big things to understand. We had some very admirable spending restraint...
